Interest in San Diego Hospice’s blufftop property in Hillcrest has been brisk, according to the real estate broker marketing the 8-acre parcel in preparation for an April 30 bankruptcy auction.

“I think there’s quite heavy interest. It’s an incredible site,” said Doug Lozier, a real estate broker for Studley Commercial Tennant Advisors, the company appointed by the court to prepare the Third Avenue property for auction.

San Diego Hospice, once the area’s largest nonprofit operator, filed for Chapter 11 on Feb. 4 saying an ongoing Medicare audit dried up its patient volume, forcing it to close.

The hospice partnered with Scripps Health, which offered an initial “stalking horse” bid of $10.7 million for the property, but other bidders are free to make higher offers. The site has several buildings, including a 24-bed hospice hospital paid for with an $18.5 million contribution from the late Joan Kroc.

Though the property is currently operated as a hospice, its underlying zoning, according to the city’s zoning map, is low-density multiunit residential, which could support about 119 dwelling units.

As of Friday afternoon, Lozier said his firm had already shown the property to 16 potential bidders in only seven days.